Book Review THE E-MYTH REVISITED by MICHAEL GERBER

Book Review THE E-MYTH REVISITED by MICHAEL GERBER


Book Review THE E-MYTH REVISITED by MICHAEL GERBER

The book that we're reviewing today is "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. And the subtitle of the book is, "Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work "And What to Do about It." Who should read this book? I think it should be compulsory reading for anyone that's thinking about starting their own company or any entrepreneur or business owner that has started their company and is struggling, who has got a little bit of a way but the business is dependent on them.

It's an excellent book to read if you're in any of those situations. I really think it should be mandatory. Why do I think it should be mandatory? And that's because it exposes the myth, the entrepreneurial myth that people that start a business because they are technically good at something, will be good at running the business that contains the technical bit. Now Michael Gerber says that's rubbish. There are a few people in this world who start a business 'cause they're technically good at something and at the same time have that entrepreneurial ability to manage a business, to run it, to grow it and that sort of thing beyond just their technical capability that they have. He talks us through the different stages that a business goes through from when in infancy, when the entrepreneur, the person who started the business is the business, you can't separate the two, down to becoming more like an adolescent and teenager and the normal challenges that one experiences as you grow a business, the identity of the business etcetera. All this in the book is illustrated by virtue, well I shouldn't say by virtue, through a story of a lady Sarah, who runs a pie-making shop, a bakery. And who comes across this business coach who then talks with her and guides her through the process of separating herself from her pie-making shop, the business. So, Michael Gerber says that there are three personas within everyone and that's the technical person, the person inevitably is the reason the person started the business, the managing side the person, as well as the entrepreneur and that these three have different aims and fight against each other, battle against each other. Some of the things that Michael advocates that you should be doing in order to build a business that can work without you, is to start with the end in mind.

To start the beginning and say, when will your business be finished? What will it look like at the end? To paint a picture of that he talks about putting organogram in of how your business will be when it's finished and he talks you through that. He suggests that you consider your business, as the first prototype of a potential franchise and that's a great idea to think of how to start a business. Why is it a good idea? As Michael points out, you will then build systems in your business, you won't make your business dependent on you or on key people because you'll be putting systems in place. So Michael goes into quite a lot of detail about systems, how do you put systems in place, what sort of systems? He goes into quite a lot of detail about the end goal, the vision that you have, the why that your businesses is there. He talks about the fact that your business is not your life and that your business needs to support your life goals. He also talks more about working on your business and not in your business and also talks about having the customer at the center of whatever you do. So, in short, that's what the book is about, it's an easy to read book, it's an excellent book. I think the major benefit of the book is that for anyone who's a business owner it'll challenge how you think about yourself and how you think about your business. For me one of the best quotes from the book is as follows: "Don't you see? "If your business depends on you, you don't own a business, "you have a job." As Brad Sugars says, "Where you'll be in five years time, "will depend on the books you've read, "the people you associate with and the actions you take." So let's talk about how we can take action to implement the learnings from this book. How easy is it to put into action? Well, some of that's gonna depend on where you are in your journey as an entrepreneur and business owner.

If your business is not solely dependent on you, then there's certainly learnings that you can take from this and put into action quite quickly. Perhaps it's something about recruitment that you can pick up and put into place straightaway. Well maybe there's an aspect of systems that you haven't quite mastered that you need to put into place. So there will be discrete bits that you'll be able to put into place. If you're early along your journey or perhaps you have had a business for a while but it's still completely dependent on you, hopefully this book has changed your mindset about how you see yourself in relation to your business. And then it's a journey, it's gonna be a journey of a while, to get yourself to a position where the business, is running without you. You can follow the advice in this book start off with thinking about your business as a prototype of a franchise and run all your decision-making through that. I would recommend however, that you get some help with this process if you're at that point.

There are quite a few good business coaches around, there's about a thousand Action Coaches around the world, if you need to get in touch with an Action COACH near you, give me a shout and I'll put you in touch with someone there. A business coach will help guide you through the process and get you to the point of the business running without you quicker, than if you're try and do it yourself. So folks that's it for today, "The E-Myth Revisited", definitely a recommended book to read if you're a business owner, if you're thinking of starting a business.   

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